Sixty Days: Day Nineteen

Day Seventeen's Reading

• Numbers 1-7
• Psalm 65-68
• Jeremiah 1-4
• Mark 3-4
• 2 Corinthians 9-11

Day Eighteen's Reading

• Numbers 8-14
• Psalms 69-72
• Jeremiah 5-8
• Mark 5-6
• 2 Corinthians 12-13

Today's Reading

• Numbers 15-21
• Psalm 73-76
• Jeremiah 9-12
• Mark 7-8
• Galatians 1-3

Yes, I'm keeping up with my reading while on vacation.  Timing my reading has not been much of an option, since the only time I've had to read was while April was driving.  Which leaves a 3 year old and a 3 month old in need of constant attention.  So my reading was mostly a chapter at a time, between snacks and diapers and bottles and books and whatever else my little men needed.  But I got through!  And today, in northern South Dakota, where the weather is sunny and cool with a gentle breeze, I was able to sit for a longer period of time and read, with my kids and the Koop kids running and playing and talking and laughing...and they were much fun to watch!

The Scriptures continue to speak to me, even though I've read them all before.  Different things have jumped out at me.  I've jotted down some thoughts and may blog about them some time, just not today.  But the other day while we were driving, April asked me which was my least favorite prophet.  Considering that I like reading all of them, it took me a while to consider which one did I not enjoy as much as the others?  And not just because I'm reading him, but the answer that came to mind really was Jeremiah.

She seemed surprised and asked why.  My reply:  Because he's just so sad.  He isn't called the weeping prophet for nothing.  Forty years, a lot of what he does is prophesy and weep.  He even wrote a book of Lamentations.  With good reason.  No one wanted to listen to him.  His audience largely ignored him.  His brothers rejected him.  His hometown elders plotted ways to shut him up.  The high priest of Israel had him locked away in stocks and bonds.  The king cut up and burned his letter, then had him cast into a mostly dried up well.  In the end, Jeremiah escaped capture and exile at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps because of Daniel's influence in Babylon.  Instead he was placed in the care of Gedaliah the governor, who still didn't listen to Jeremiah's prophetic warnings and consequently lost his life.  Against his will, Jeremiah was removed from Israel and went into Egyptian exile with those who wanted to retake Jerusalem from the Babylonians.  There he died.

I don't like reading Jeremiah's prophecies which went completely unheeded.  At any point, the Israelites could have listened and heeded and repented and called out upon God.  Instead, they raced headlong toward their own destruction.  Even the king was given multiple chances to turn from his wickedness, humble himself and surrender to the Babylonians without losing his life.  Instead, he ended up blind and in chains, but not before he saw all of his family and nobles and court executed in front of him. 

I'm reminded sometimes that ministry can often be--and sometimes has been, for me--seemingly fruitless.  No one listens.  No one changes.  No one believes.  No one.

But then there is the one, who at the right place at the right time, hears something you say and is changed forever.  Transformed by the power of the word.  That is an awesome miracle to witness, the greatest of all, when a sinner becomes a saint through the grace given to us through Jesus Christ.  When a troubled soul is rescued from perishing.  When one bound in spiritual chains is suddenly set free.  When one in darkness sees a spark of light that leads them out. 

That is what makes ministry worthy it all.

Sixty Days: Day Sixteen

Today's Reading:

• Leviticus 23-27
• Psalm 61-64
• Isaiah 61-66
• Mark 1-2
• 2 Corinthians 6-8

Reading Time:  60 minutes

Perhaps the big question today is:  Will Casey be able to keep up with his 60-day Bible Reading Plan while on vacation?  Yesterday was another day skipped...I only have two more days I can throw away before I have to start doubling up on my reading days.  But I will tell you the answer to the question is this:  I will keep up with my reading plan.  Blogging about it may be another story.

Finishing up Leviticus, there was a thought that occurred to me, a thought that went along with so many other thoughts I've had recently.  Under the codified regulations regarding giving, Leviticus prescribes that we bring our tithes, offerings, and sacrifices to God through His priests for the support of ongoing ministry in the nation of Israel, leaving the leftovers of the harvest behind for the poor and the alien to reap.

But today, it seems like we are spending our tithes on ourselves, withholding our offerings, refusing to sacrifice, ignoring the poor and the alien, and giving God the leftovers.  What a reversal of priorities!

God deserves the very best of everything we have to give him--our time, our talents, our treasures.  He is worthy of all our praise, and He desires to have all our hearts, which will result in having the best of everything we have anyway.  What are we giving God today?  The first and best, or the dregs of life and the leftovers?

I will always sing praises to your name

as I fulfill my vows day after day. 

Psalm 61:8, NLT

Sixty Days: Day Fifteen

Yesterday's Reading:

• Leviticus 8-15
• Psalm 53-56
• Isaiah 53-56
• Matthew 25-26
• 2 Corinthians 1-2

Reading Time:  60 minutes

Today's Reading:

• Leviticus 16-22
• Psalm 57-60
• Isaiah 57-60
• Matthew 27-28
• 2 Corinthians 3-5

Reading Time:  1 hour 10 minutes

Leviticus has a lot of rules.  The Psalmist talked about his enemies quite a bit.  Isaiah often preached hard messages to a careless people, but he usually followed them with messages of hope.  That hope is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and keeps us going through hard times.

That's a summary of today's 20 chapter jaunt through the Scriptures, but my mind is drawn back to Moses, and all those rules and regulations and instructions and laws and commandments and requirements.  I'm thankful for the Gospel which assures me Jesus not only fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, He paid the price for my punishment with his own precious life.  But I wonder, why did God feel it was necessary to lay down all those laws in the first place?

Why was God concerned about the thread content of our clothing, or whether or not we planted two crops in the same field, or why does it matter if we kill a cow and her calf on the same day, or cook a goat in its mother's milk?  Why didn't he want the hair at our temples cut, or the corners of our beards trimmed?  I'd be out of luck on that last one anyway, since I cannot grow even decent whiskers.  My five o'clock shadow is four days late.  I can understand the moral laws.  I can even see why the dietary and cleanliness laws were necessary.  But I'm uncertain how a cotton-polyester blend is offensive to God.

Then I realize, it was never about the mixed threads or the mixed crops.  It was about divided hearts.  God wants our whole heart, undivided, undistracted, unobstructed in following Him.  The rules are not necessarily about the things ruled.  They were about our obedience.  Will you obey the Lord, even when you don't have the answer to WHY He requires it?

We are a liberty-loving people.  Come and take it!  Don't tread on me!  Give me liberty or give me death!  Tomorrow is even the anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, a national anthem written about a flag that was defiantly still there.  And we don't like a lot of rules infringing on our person or our privacy.  Seat belt laws.  Smoking laws.  Speeding laws.  Soda pop laws.  Who does Bloomberg think he is, anyway?

But God had a reason for laying down the Levitical Law.  It was about keeping His people separate from those who didn't serve Him.  It was about protecting them and defending them against the lawless incursions of heathen society.  It was about preserving them against the moral decay of culture and civilization.  It was about reserving a people for Himself--holy, blameless, and yes, obedient.

Even with all the regulations regarding sacrifice, we are repeatedly told throughout Scripture that our obedience is more important than our gift.  Our heart is what God wants, and He wants it to be a heart that follows Him.

Sixty Days: Day Thirteen

Today's Reading:

• Leviticus 1-7
• Psalm 49-52
• Isaiah 49-52
• Matthew 23-24
• 1 Corinthians 16

Reading Time:  45 minutes

Today we got started in one of my favorite books--Leviticus.  27 chapters of rules and regulations that invade the most private areas of life. 

You're joking, right?  you might be wondering.

No, I'm really not joking.  I actually do love Leviticus.  I love drawing nuggets from its treasures.

Treasures in Leviticus? you might be wondering.

There really are some.  Especially when you realize that all the rules and regulations were about keeping God's people separate from the demon-worshiping pagans who surrounded them. 

In spite of the nuggets, we have to realize that these Levitical laws were written for the Jews, not for the Gentiles.  And that 3500 years ago, those laws were necessary to protect the health and tranquility of a mobile nation wandering around in the wilderness for forty years.  And that 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law and set believers free from the law of sin and death.  So instead of reading Leviticus and trying to apply all those rules and regulations to ourselves, I look for the nuggets.

The first seven chapters of Leviticus are all about codifying a sacrificial system that involved the continual offering of bulls and rams and goats and doves and pigeons and grain and oil and flour and bread in a constant attempt to atone for one's sins and ward off the judgment and wrath of God.  Whole burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings, fellowship offerings, grain offerings.  Offerings for secret sin.  Offerings for unintentional sin.  Offerings for the corporate sins of the community.  Offerings for the High Priest of Israel.  Offerings of ritual cleansing in case one is defiled by coming into contact with a dead body, and offerings of consecration in case one accidentally touches something dedicated to the Lord.  It is a beautiful and intricate picture of all that Christ accomplished for us on the cross, but the practice of such was messy...and insufficient.

The Psalmist says so in today's reading.  That the blood of bulls and rams and goats and doves and pigeons is not enough to make up for my sinfulness.  That no sacrifice is enough to pay for my transgressions of the law.  That no offering is enough to redeem me from certain destruction at the hands of a just and judging God.  But there is something that is sufficient to help me.  There is something that is enough.

God's mercy.

It's the only thing anyone could ever depend upon:

Adam and Eve, who were cast from the Garden of Eden and condemned to die...slowly, over the course of a lifetime. 

Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord when everyone else on earth was doing everything they could to avoid it.

Abraham, who was called out of idolatry, and declared righteous because of his obedience.

Moses, who was a murderer and a st-st-stutterer with self-esteem issues.

David, the Psalmist whose words we read today, who understood that it wasn't really sacrifices and offerings that God wanted. 

What God wants is our heart.

Sixty Days: Day Twelve

Today's Reading:

• Exodus 33-40
• Psalm 45-48
• Isaiah 45-48
• Matthew 21-22
• 1 Corinthians 14-15

Reading Time:  60 minutes

I didn't feel like reading today.  That doesn't mean I didn't want to.  I didn't feel like it.  I was physically and mentally exhausted.  I even put off my Bible reading, hoping that I would "wake up" and be able to concentrate.  But when I finally sat down to read, my eyes wouldn't focus on the words, my brain wouldn't focus on the meaning.  It was rather frustrating.  So I went home to take a nap.

Rested, refreshed, showered, and dressed for church, I came back over to the office to spend my hour reading.

And what did I get?  Eight chapters dealing with the aftermath of the golden calf incident and a detailed account of the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings.  Which in itself followed up on the multi-chapter instructions regarding the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings.  Admittedly, I skimmed some of those passages rather than read every word.

Still, I came away with a powerful thought from the final chapter in Exodus.  There are things (perhaps) that God leaves up to our conscience, our intelligence, our imagination, our decision-making skills.  We do the best we can with what we have.  But there are other things, important things about life and faith, that God didn't want to leave up to our own devising.  So He gave detailed instructions, and He expects those instructions to be followed. To the letter.

Bored with blueprints and patterns of a tabernacle which ceased to be functional 3000 years ago?  Which modulated into the temple worship of Israel that ceased 2000 years ago?  Confused over an intricate sacrificial system that was fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ?  Not connected to a priesthood and their garments that have nothing to do with what we wear or how we practice our religion today?  Sometimes, me too.  Nevertheless, God put it in the Bible for a reason, by Divine Inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Surely there is something we can come away with.

For when all the structure and furnishings were complete, Moses oversaw the setting up of the tabernacle in the wilderness.  Once the tent was up, he placed the Ark of the Covenant--which represented the presence of God--in its place.  He hung up the veil, arranged the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, and the seven-branched candlestick.  He hung the curtain over the entrance, placed the great bronze altar and the bronze sea in their place.  Then he sprinkled everything with the holy oil he had been instructed to make.

And when he was done, the fiery cloud of God's glory descended upon the tabernacle, and God's glory--His manifest presence--filled the whole place, so that even Moses (who had been with God on the mountain and been exposed to the unfiltered glory) could not stay in there.

Still don't get it?  For the best results, follow God's directions.

And on that note, let me share the words of the song I woke up with this afternoon:

I know the Lord will make a way for you

I know the Lord will make a way for you

If you live a holy life

Shun the wrong and do what's right

I know the Lord will make a way for you



Sixty Days: Day Eleven

Today's Reading:

• Exodus 26-32
• Psalm 41-44
• Isaiah 41-44
• Matthew 19-20
• 1 Corinthians 11-13

Reading Time:  1 Hour, 10 Minutes

God will not share His glory.

Over and over again, today's reading emphasized that.  Chapter after chapter in Exodus, God is giving Moses the blueprints for the Tabernacle--the ONLY house of worship God ever personally designed.  And when Moses takes too long coming back down the mountain, the people get restless and demand that Aaron make them a god they can see.  Enter the Golden Calf, made from the golden jewelry donated by God's wonderful people.  Barely a month after shouting with enthusiasm their commitment to honor the Lord and His commandments, these people are breaking them with fervor.  Worshiping another God, making an idol, blaspheming the name of the Lord...not to mention the adultery (and according to some traditions, murder to get protesters out of the way) committed as they "sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."  Boy, were they in for it when Moses got back.

In Psalms, our attention is directed again and again to all that God has done for us, making it clear that He is worthy of all our praise and worship and devotion. 

Isaiah makes a mockery of serving false gods and their representative idols.  A man takes an axe into the woods and chops down a tree.  With part of it he builds a fire and bakes his bread and cooks his meat; with the other part he fashions a god with eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, hands that cannot reach out, and a mouth that cannot speak.  And this he worships.  In spite of the fact that he has a real God who does see and hear and touch and speak--a God who always has and always will.

And He is not pleased when we turn aside to worship other things.  In today's world, we may not be bowing down before little statues or burning incense to them or offering our prayers to their deaf ears.  But any time we allow something to turn our thoughts, our hearts, our actions away from God, we commit idolatry.  Any time we allow something besides God to be the main priority in our lives, the standard and rule by which to live by, we create a false god for ourselves.  Any time we allow the things of this world to distract us from serving the Lord Most High and Holy, we have forsaken the true faith.

You only have to read the Bible to find out what happens to those who don't keep their focus on God.

"I am the Lord; that is my name!

I will not give my glory to anyone else.

I will not share my praise with carved idols."

Isaiah 42:8, NLT

 

Don't let this world and its offerings distract you from worshiping the Lord.  Give God the glory and the honor and the praise for what He has done...and for Who He is!  He will have it not other way.

Sixty Days: Day Ten

Today's Reading:

• Exodus 18-25
• Psalm 37-40
• Isaiah 37-40
• Matthew 17-18
• 1 Corinthians 9-10

Reading Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

As of today, I've read 200 chapters in my 60-day quest to read the Bible through.  That's one-sixth of the Scriptures.  I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, it's an hour well spent, and perfectly manageable in my situation.  I'm enjoying my 5 course meal every day, and I'm looking forward to the next 50 days.

Trust came through loud and clear again today.  Nothing specific, just a general sense of "You can trust God.  He's not going to let you down!"  Of course, along side that is the occasional reminder that I have been at times untrustworthy, and that sometimes I have let Him down.  My spirit, soul, and body cringe together whenever the word convicts me, and in that moment I am faced with a decision to make.  Do I let the Word confront me, do I let the Spirit change me?  Or do I ignore what I've just read, pretend like I don't know that it's talking about me, and move on to something else?  The only problem with making the latter choice over the former is that if I continue to read my Bible, it's going to challenge me again soon.  Like, tomorrow.

I remember one morning I was in a rush to get to church, and when I got there, I discovered several things.  I hadn't brushed my hair after my shower.  I had forgotten to shave.  And my starched white collar was turned up around my neck.  I hadn't looked in the mirror before leaving home.  Had I looked, I would surely have corrected it.

Reading the Bible is like looking closely at our reflection in the mirror.  If we are truly concerned about our appearance, we notice the hairs that are out of place.  We notice the new pimple on our lip.  We notice the line of small black whiskers that we missed with our razor.  We see the smudge of dirt, the crusty leftovers of last night's drool, those messy green things in the corners of our eyes.  We see the leavings of whatever we ate last stuck between our teeth, and if we are leaning in closely enough, we might even smell our need to brush our teeth.  Or shower.

The Bible reveals the awesome holiness of God, and also reveals the standards of holiness by which He expects us to live.  And once we read it, we are then responsible for it.  What are we going to do with it?  Are we going to make the necessary corrections, or are we going to run out the door with our zipper down and toilet paper clinging to the heel of our shoe?

Every morning, I take my Bible and I think to myself and my Lord, "Show me what I need to see today, and help me form up.  Please.  Help me form up."

Sixty Days: Day Nine

Today's Reading:

• Exodus 11-17
• Psalm 33-36
• Isaiah 33-36
• Matthew 15-16
• 1 Corinthians 6-8

Reading Time:  58 minutes

It is a rare Sunday that I find enough time to just sit and read for an hour.  Today was that day!

And I should not be surprised that the Lord spoke to me from his word about trust.  Again.  Do you think He's trying to tell me something?  I have trusted the Lord for a very long time.  Even when I didn't understand.  Even when I couldn't see where I was going.  Even when I didn't know how it was all going to turn out.  Even when it looked like God might have made a mistake (He hadn't).  I thought I had learned to the trust the Lord.

These last few weeks have been a great test of that trust.  And now having come through a couple of things, and seeing that the Lord has remained faithful even when my trust wavered (for zero point six eight seconds), I feel like He is rebuilding trust within me on a greater scale for greater things.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys of those who trust in Him!

Let the Lord's people show Him reverence,

for those who honor him

will have all they need.

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,

but those who trust in the Lord

will never lack any good thing.

Psalm 34:8-10, NLT

 

So now is the time for self-examination.  I have trusted Him.  I have been reminded again of just how good God is.  Now, does my life match up with what my mouth says I believe.  Have I honored my Lord completely in everything that I do?

 

Have I honored Him with my thoughts?

 

Have I honored Him with my belief?

 

Have I honored Him with my behavior?

 

Have I honored Him with my words?

 

Have I honored Him when no one else is watching?

 

Have I honored Him in my home?

 

Have I honored Him before my wife and sons?

 

Have I honored Him in my ministry?

 

Have I honored Him with everything that I am, everything that I have, everything that I do, and everything that I dream?

 

Aye, there's the rub.

 

Sometimes in being who we are, in doing what we do, we don't completely honor Him.  And yet He remains faithful.  In His infinite grace and mercy and wisdom and love He forgives my failures, convicts me of my faults, directs me toward the future He has prepared for me.  He doesn't give up on me, He refuses to let me go.  And He who began this good work in me will be faithful to complete it.  Pray to God that I cooperate!

 

Teach me Lord to trust.  And to honor You in all I do.

Sixty Days: Day Eight

Today's Reading:

• Exodus 3-10
• Psalm 29-32
• Isaiah 29-32
• Matthew 13-14
• 1 Corinthians 4-5

Reading Time:  60 minutes

There was a lot of lengthy narrative in today's reading, and it was all good.  The call of Moses and the plagues of Egypt.  More prophetic words for the wayward people of God.  Several of Jesus' parables about the kingdom, plus a couple of spectacular miracles.  And Paul administering church discipline upon an abhorrent situation.

But what spoke to me this morning was Psalm 30, a reminder of all that God has done for me.

David says: 

 

He rescued me. 

He refused to let me be defeated. 

He helped me. 

He restored me. 

He brought me up from the grave,

and He kept me from falling back in.

 

So I will praise Him.  I will sing to Him.  I will praise His holy name!

 

Oh the wonderful things He has done for me!  When I look back over a lifetime of serving Him, I know that I could not possibly recount everything He has ever done for me.  Suffice it to say, He has done a lot.  He saved me.  He forgave me.  He has healed me numerous times.  He filled me with His Spirit and called me into His ministry.  He equipped and empowered me.  He continues to anoint me.  He directs and guides, He protects and He provides. 

 

But what spoke to me the most was those two closing verses:

You have turned my mourning into dancing.

You have taken away my clothes of mourning

and clothed me with joy,

that I might sing praised to you and not be silent.

O Lord my God,

I will give you thanks forever.

 

 

I am happy today!  Though my past has given me many reasons to grieve, my present gives me many reasons to rejoice, and my future is bright beyond compare.  Heartache and heartbreak have been mine, but no longer.  Disappointment and pain have also been mine, and may be again, but God never fails to shine His light on darker days.  I have been weak, He has made me strong.  I have lost much in the service of the Lord, but He has been faithful to His word to restore, to repair, and to renew!  The years that the locust ate have been gifted back to me by an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God.

 

So I rejoice today!  I sing and shout His praises today!  I glory in the gift of God's grace and mercy and never-ending love.  Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me.

 

I am blessed today!

Sixty Days: Day Seven

Today's Reading

• Genesis 46-50
• Exodus 1-2
• Psalm 25-28
• Isaiah 25-28
• Matthew 11-12
• 1 Corinthians 1-3

Reading time:  58 minutes

Yesterday should have been day seven for me.  Unfortunately, circumstances got in the way.  Rather than try to play catch up, I just picked up today where I left off on Wednesday.  Since I started on August 29th, and my goal is to end by October 31st, I have a few days of grace.  Yesterday, I used up one of them.

Reflecting on what I blogged last, I was more than delighted when I took in today's reading, especially when I encountered an oft quoted verse in Isaiah 26:3, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!  It is followed by the further encouragement of verse 4, Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

We must trust in the Lord!  That means we place all our faith, hope, and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ--in who He is, in what He has said, in what He is able to do.  Placing our trust anywhere else is just folly.

Some trust in chariots and horses, the Psalmist wrote.  I don't have a chariot or a horse to trust in, but there are lots of other things this world offers that we often rely upon.  We rely upon our abilities, our jobs, our income.  We trust our friends and our family.  We hope our doctor, our lawyer, our banker can help us in times of need.  But what happens when all those things fail?  What happens when my health breaks, my strength falters, my talents grow useless with the passing of time?  What happens when my friends abandon me and my family disowns me?  What happens when the doctor says there's nothing he can do, the lawyer says I'm finished, the banker says my credit is no good?  What happens then?

Only God will never fail me.  He hasn't failed me or mine in 38 years; he's not going to start today.

Is that to say that nothing bad ever happened to me?  Is that to say God has always done everything I asked him to do, or gave me everything I wanted?  Definitely not.  Plenty of bad things have happened along the way.  I've been sick, but never to the point of disease, desperation, or death.  I've been depressed, but never to the point of giving up.  I've been poor, but never hungry, homeless, or without resources.  Death, divorce, defeat, disappointment.  These I have tasted, but I did not become bitter.  I kept trusting in the Lord.

And when my life seems to spin out of control, I continually remind myself, God will keep me in perfect peace if my mind is stayed upon Him.  That's one of the reasons I'm reading the Bible through in sixty days--to refocus my mind upon Him.  Every day I pick up the Bible and read, I am reminded that God is going to keep me, because I am His and He is mine, and He can be trusted!

Sixty Days: Day Six

 

Today's Reading

• Genesis 38-45
• Psalm 21-24
• Isaiah 21-24
• Romans 14-16

Reading Time:  59 minutes

 

It was Corrie ten Boom who said, "There is no panic in heaven.  God has no problems, only plans"

 

What a statement.  Especially coming from someone who suffered and lost so much while following God's plan for her life.  Do you know her story?  Of how her family took in foster children?  Of how she worked with the mentally disabled?  Of how they hid Jews from Nazi oppression during the German occupation of Holland?  Of how they were arrested and went to prison?  Of how her father, her sister, and her nephew died in prison?  Of how her brother contracted tuberculosis in prison and eventually died from it?  And yet hers is a story of great triumph and glory for the Lord.

 

How often do we panic in the face of our problems?  I'm not asking it as a rhetorical question.  I know I haven't suffered like Corrie suffered.  In fact, if I have suffered at all in my life, it has been very little.  Very little at all.  And yet I know how much I have panicked when confronted with insurmountable obstacles.  When something happens that doesn't quite fit in with what I think is God's plan for my life, my heart beats a little faster.  My breath quickens.  I feel physical discomfort.  My mind races.  I can't sleep at night.  All of my fears and failures are thrown up in my face, and for a moment I wonder, "How can this all work out?"

 

Then I remember what a great God I serve.  Sometimes remembering is the hardest part, but once I do, everything immediately calms down.  We need to trust God.

 

Yesterday I wrote about Jacob, who seemed constantly in a state of panic over what was happening in his life.  Even in his old age, he still worried about things over which he really had no control.  But today I read about his son Joseph, his favorite son, who was nothing like his father.  Joseph had a couple of dreams about the future God had planned for him.  One would think a family would rejoice when one of its members was promised the blessings of God.  Instead, Jacob and his other sons mocked and rebuked Joseph.  His brothers even hated him for daring to have dreams of greatness, and at the first opportunity, they decided to do something about their annoyingly bratty dreaming brother.

 

They physically assaulted him.  They stripped him of his cloak.  They tossed him into a dried out well, and it only got worse from there.  He is sold into slavery, falsely accused, unjustly imprisoned, unfairly forgotten by those he tried to help.  And then one day, God brought him to the attention of Pharaoh.  In that one day, he was elevated from the prison to the palace and made ruler over all Egypt, right underneath the most powerful man in the world.  And through it all, Joseph remained faithful to his God.  Even later, given a chance to exact vengeance and retribution on his brothers, he instead uses it as an opportunity to develop their character and determine if they have changed.  And it seems that they had.

 

You see, God had a plan.  He told Abraham his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land for 400 years, that they would be slaves for four generations, and that God would bring them out.  God used Joseph to fulfill those plans.  Joseph saved his entire family by being in a position of power he could never have reached on his own, in a place to which he would never have gone except for being kidnapped and sold into slavery.  At the end of his story, Joseph declares, "What you meant for evil, God worked out for good."

 

Psalm 22 describes the intense suffering of the Savior, a prophecy fulfilled in the horrors of Jesus' crucifixion.  Isaiah declares prophetic word after prophetic word regarding God's plans for the nations, especially Israel.  And the closing chapters of Romans detail Paul's own ministry plans that went awry right after he wrote this letter.

 

Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him, and they would have responded  But he didn't, because that wasn't God's plan.  Without Paul's imprisonment, he might never have been able to fulfill God's call to preach to kings.  And without the roadblocks and difficulties we face along life's way, we might never end up where God really wants us to go.

 

As for me, I'm glad I'm here, right where I'm supposed to be.

Sixty Days: Day Five

Today's Reading:

• Genesis 31-37
• Psalm 17-20
• Isaiah 17-20
• Matthew 9-10
• Romans 11-13

Reading Time:  58 minutes

If I could single only one thing out of today's reading plan as a constant thread, it would be the futility of making plans to help fulfill the will of God.

First off, we don't always have all the facts.  Secondly, God doesn't need our help.  Thirdly, we will never have God completely figured out.  So it's best to just rely on Him day by day, moment by moment, and let Him work out all the details.

Take Jacob, for instance (and this is reaching back into yesterday's reading just a bit).  In the womb, he wrestled with his twin brother, and God used the wrestling to speak a Word to Rebekah about how he had already chosen the younger over the older.  When they were delivered, Jacob came out grasping his brother's heal--thus his name, which means "heel-grabber" or "supplanter".  In other words, con-man.

As a grown man, he thought he needed to buy his brother's birthright.  And later he cheated his brother out of the blessing of the firstborn and was forced to flee his homeland, arriving at the home of his relatives a penniless refugee.  There, he was swindled royally by his own uncle, tricked into marriage with two sisters who fought over him and foisted their own maids onto him in an attempt to gain dominance through childbearing.  He uses a selective breeding program to increase his own flocks and herds, but every time he thinks he's got his wages settled, his uncle/father-in-law changes the terms of the agreement.  Finally, he has to sneak away to get away, and is very nearly attacked and destroyed by his enraged uncle/father-in-law.  But even after God brings peace between the two, Jacob sends messengers to determine the intent of the brother he cheated.  After hearing that Esau is on his way to meet them, Jacob starts figuring and plotting how to either win his brother's heart or escape his vengeance.  In reality, Jacob needed to do none of that.

God had a beautiful will for Jacob's life, but we will never know what it was because Jacob got in the way.  To that end, he had a houseful of bickering wives and rebellious children, a brother who didn't trust him, neighbors who hated him, and a lifespan that was shortened by heartache and hardship.  What would have happened had Jacob just trusted God for the blessing and the future, instead of trying to work it all out for himself?

Just some thoughts.

Let us trust in the Lord for our every moment.  I'm sure He's got everything well in hand.

Sixty Days: Day Four

 

Yesterday's Reading:

• Genesis 16-22
• Psalms 9-12

Today's Reading

• Genesis 23-30
• Psalms 13-16
• Isaiah 9-16
• Matthew 5-8
• Romans 6-10

Reading Time:  Unknown

 

Wait a minute, you might say.  What happened to Day Three?

 

To be perfectly honest, what happened to Day Three is that it fell on the busiest day of my week--Sunday.  And this particular Sunday was busier than most other Sundays.  Just a lot going on.  For me, Sunday is the hardest day to keep up with a regular reading schedule such as the one I have set for myself.  Whatever time I have before church on Sunday morning is usually spent in final preparation for that service.  Sunday morning service is followed by lunch, which is followed by a needful period of rest, followed by final preparations for the Sunday evening service, the service itself, another meal, and then it's 9 o'clock at night and I have hardly had a spare moment to sit down and read for an hour.  By 9 o'clock at night on a Sunday night, my brain is fried, my emotions spent, my body exhausted.  Concentration takes a lot of effort.  Last night, I managed to read 11 chapters before I started nodding off into oblivion.

 

Now, I am by no means under any legal obligation to read 20 chapters a day.  God is not going to be happier with me if I read 20 chapters instead of 11, or none for that matter.  My crowns in heaven will not be encrusted with more jewels, if I even get a crown.  My robe will not be whiter.  My glorified body will not be better looking.  This reading plan doesn't rack up brownie points or bonus points in eternity.  It's just my reading plan.  If I skip a day, it's okay.  The Bible Reading Plan Police are not going to come lock me up if I skip a day.

 

But there is a part of me, something within my nature, that screams at the top of it's lungs to remind me that I made a commitment to read 20 chapters a day.  That I made a commitment to finish he Bible by the end of October.  It was a commitment to myself; nevertheless, it was a commitment.  So I spent all of today trying to catch up.  The problem with Mondays is that I am still physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained.  My mind keeps wandering, if not completely shutting down.  I prefer rest or mindless physical activity like rearranging church chairs.

 

So I spent from 9 o'clock this morning until 4 o'clock this afternoon trying to read 29 chapters of the Bible.  Should have taken me an hour and 20 minutes.  But now I'm finished for the day.

 

My point is this:  Just keep reading.  Even if you can't do 20 chapters in a sitting, keep reading.  Even if your mind can't absorb the vast amount of information you are feeding it, keep reading.  Even if you fall behind in Casey's Sixty Day Reading Challenge, keep reading.  Because it's not the time you spend doing it that is important, neither is it the speed with which you read, nor the chapters that you cover.  What matters most is that you are feasting from the word of God.  You are taking the bread of life into your spiritual system and nourishing your spiritual man. 

 

So for your own spiritual health, keep reading.